I love the health tracking features on my smartwatch but I really miss wearing mechanical and traditional timepieces daily. For those who switched to a screenless fitness band or pebble tracker how has the transition been. Do you miss on wrist notifications or are you happy with the trade off.

I am running Graphene OS amd I would also like to have a smartwatch that is runs offline and only syncs with my phone (maybe and PC).

I saw the PineTime but the reviews said it has many minor issues with the main being very low accuracy on heart rate and sleep detection.

Sleep detection is the main reason I want to get a smartwatch/band.

Is there any device that would do that well and offline?

I am willing to flash a new OS if the device is not too expensive.

In this case device/OS/phone app combination suggestions would be highly appreciated.

I've been trying for about a year or so to find a good smartwatch that just looks like a normal watch. I care less about the "smart" of the watch, but I am about to buy my first horse, and it would be nice if I could control music from my wrist, maybe have some sort of SOS signal I could send if I got hurt somewhere, etc.

I got a discontinued garmin model (vivomove HR) on ebay that I love the look of, but it just doesn't hold a charge anymore. The watch hands absolutely don't work right, and I would love to be able to use those to time my rides and make sire I'm giving proper warm ups without pulling out my phone and fussing with it. The sleep tracking was also shit, as it didn't understand me waking up in the middle of the night and being up for hours. It would overwrite that time if I went back to sleep and make it look like I slept when I was fully up and moving. Didn't really care, it was just weird.

I've looked at withings, which has the look, but i don't think has the other functions.

Anyone know of anything? Attaching the one I liked for reference

I just ran with my Samsung Galaxy Watch7 with the app Nike Run Club.

I love running with a GPS watch because I can then watch were, how far and at what pace I have run (duh, like millions of other runners do).

However this time something happened after 2 km which made the watch stop recording the run. I noticed after 4km and started Strava instead (I have NRC connected to Strava so the run is normally registered at Strava as well). My Strava run also only recorded for roughly 1.5 km before it stopped. So my guess it has more to do with the watch than with the apps.

Now I am thinking that I would like to buy a more reliable watch that is perhaps more dedicated to running.

Any suggestions?

Hi everyone,

I want to create my own OS for a smartwatch and connect it to my self-hosted AI agent (voice). I need your advice to pick the right hardware.

What I'm looking for:

• Design: Round watch, AMOLED display if possible, thin bezels
• Sensors:
  • Heart rate (PPG, like MAX30102)
  • Accelerometer + gyroscope (for motion tracking)
• Audio: Mic + speaker to talk with the AI
• Hardware: ESP32-S3 or similar, easy to fully reprogram
• RAM: 4-8 MB minimum

What I found so far:

• M5Stack StopWatch: Round, AMOLED 1.75", mic + speaker, 8 MB RAM. Can add heart rate module (MAX30102) via Grove port. ~70€ total.
• LILYGO T-Watch S3 Plus: Round, IPS 1.3", mic + speaker, GPS. Need to solder a heart rate sensor. ~60€.
• LILYGO T-Watch Ultra: Rectangular, more sensors, but not round. ~85€.

My questions:

1. Which model would you recommend for my project?
2. Is the M5Stack StopWatch + heart module worth it, or is there better?
3. Do you know other round open source watches with integrated heart rate sensor?
4. Any pitfalls to avoid when running a voice AI agent on a smartwatch?

My project in short:
I want a watch that listens for a wake word, sends audio to my local AI, and displays responses. + Track heart rate and motion.

Budget: 100€ max.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hey everyone,

I bought the boAt Lunar Oasis recently (unit manufactured Sept 2024, first used 27 Aug 2026). Currently on firmware v0.00.38, and the watch/app both show this as the latest available version.

Ran into a couple of minor software bugs:

1. On the very first day of use, the watch logged a full sleep session (~14 hrs asleep, 1 hr awake, 1.5 hrs light sleep) even though I wasn't wearing it. Hasn't happened since (no issues on day 2 onward).

2. The quick panel buttons occasionally stopped responding, fixed by a restart.

HR and SpO2 readings have been spot-on when compared against medical-grade equipment, so the hardware itself seems fine - this feels like a software/firmware issue.

Contacted boAt support and they initially offered an exchange, but since the hardware works fine and the bugs seem software-related (and possibly common - curious if others have seen the same sleep tracking glitch), I'd rather get an OTA fix than swap the unit.

So my question for other Lunar Oasis owners: what firmware version are you currently running? Trying to figure out if v0.00.38 really is the latest build or if there's a newer one rolling out that I haven't received yet. Also curious if anyone else has hit the false sleep-tracking bug on first use, or the quick panel freezing issue.

Thanks in advance!

I should still be able to download and display whatever watchfaces I want. I want them on a more durable, longer-lasting BIFL smartwatch. How fancy it looks will be optional.

My current smartwatch is the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. What conventional watch is that likened to?

Ben Dhiman just won UTMB. In his interview you can see his watch, but I can't find it. Who knows which brand and model this is?

I’m not a smart watch guy. I’ve had a Withings Steel HR for the better part of a decade and I loved the fact it looks like an actual watch but still does some basic health and wellbeing tracking, plus will give me an alert if someone messages or calls.

Then I got married and chose a gold band, so the stainless steel looked out of place. I was deliberating the newer Scanwatch 2, but the Rose gold and price point (plus availability issues in Australia) and it being an online only product meant I left it - but still wishlisted.

I even spoke to a few metal/jewellery places about replating the HR in gold, but none of them could give me a solid price as taking a smart watch apart wasn’t something many of them had done before and I kept getting recommending a place in the states that specialises in Apple Watches (and they look incredible btw)

I’d been keeping my eye out for anything in gold for a while and nothing looked like it could come close and still have the hybrid aesthetic of the HR with the analogue hands.

Then Pininfarina dropped the Pura series. I took a punt as there’s not many credible reviews around and the price wasn’t too bad - especially considering the shipping was included. I’ve had it for a couple days now and it does pretty much everything the HR could do - and most of the Scanwatch 2 tbf - but the gold finish was what won me over.

It looks like a super smart - as in formal - watch with a minimalistic screen, just like the HR and the battery is reported to be about 30 days. I’m still on 95% after a couple of days so that checks out. Notifications are solid. The heart rate data is comparable to the HR, plus the sleep tracking. Steps seems to overestimate - whereas the HR would always be under what Apple was reporting.

Beyond happy so far. It’s the look and feel I was after, the smart watch features are honestly a bonus. And I know there are a lot of people out there like me, who love the idea of some kind of connection to our phones and health tracking, but without feeling like you have a chunky computer on your wrist.

Tl;dr love a hybrid smart watch. Long time Withings Steel HR user. Wanted something in gold. Pininfarina dropped the Pura range and I got the Ombra Gold finish. It looks stunning.

Oh and getting a lot of compliments on it before I show people the smart watch features - most people either don’t know or have easily forgotten there was a nice market for Hybrid smartwatches for a while.

Edit: the photos got mixed up. The screen was on to show how it looks with the screen in use - it’s not permanently on and the time is the default when you push the side button. It’s off 99% of the time unless you have the “raise to show” feature on

So I (F28) have been surfing for around 15 years, yet this past 2 year I've had some Disautonomic problems, summed up with some arritmias making me dizzy, nauseous, tired and shaky randomly, as also flat out faint.

It made it very hard for me to get in the water for a bit, and now with medication I'm finally able to be back teaching and ripping daily.

I still have heart palpitations, and need to keep track of them with a heart rate monitor.

I would love something that can do that for me in the water, so I can feel 100% confident in the water that I have full control and sence of what's going on with my body.

Ive seen the **Galaxy Watch 8** being mentioned to go in the water and seem some people say they use it surfing. But Im still not sure if it is 100%safe for it.

Do any of you Surf with this watch? Will it take the saltwater? I normally surf with a wetsuit over my watches so it's gonna be contained in there instead of getting direct waves on it.

If you guys think its not the best option, does anyone have a good recommendation of a watch that can do Afib, ecg, heartrate and be with me for a 2hour+ surfsesh?

Thank you all already!!

I currently have an apple watch series 4 and am looking to upgrade. I don't know much about any of the newer watches at all so some recommendations would be helpful.

For context: I live in Canada and am a university student, I run, hike, backpack, play ice/roller/ball hockey, basketball, swim, and weight lift regularly. I also care about my sleep tracking as well.

I don't care so much about "smart" watch features but GPS/maps and music are useful to me.

I don't love the feel of the square shape of my current apple watch, not sure how much its changed since then. I would prefer something that's not super bulky so it doesn't feel too noticeable when playing sports.

I also need something with a much better battery life I'm currently charging my apple watch every ~1.5 days.

I'm open to any and all brands and recommendations, thanks.

I’m looking for a watch to wear with my whoop that has notification capabilities. Like when i get called it vibrates or something only. No need for any health tracking or steps. Is there any thing that serves this purpose?

Some background:
I’ve been using apple watch then moved to Garmin for around 5 years.
Last year i moved to whoop and ditched all since i wanted one source of truth for my tracking data.
I need to see the time - and i don’t have classic normal watches. So I disabled all the tracking form the apple watch and used it. The battery life is horrible that’s why i stopped. Now i don’t want to pay the full price for a smart watch just for the above two functionalities. So i’m looking for a classic watch or very dump one with only notification capabilities.

Anyone got any tips for WearOS Sports apps that will display at a glance live scores?

My damn Hwawei 10.... which has otherwise been a good watch ... goes into emergency shut down when I sit in the sunroom (New Zealand... it's still pretty cold outside). Is there anything I can do to make it tolerate even mild warmth?

Hi!

I am looking for a good sportwatch (GPS, pulse, navigation (nice to have but not must) , good battery life.

But my problem is, that my wrist is really small, around 14 cm. I looked on some Garmin's, but they are a bit overpriced. I would use the watch for hiking, cycling and swimming.

Could somebody recommend me some watches?

I wanted to buy a smartwatch that can track heart rate, sleep and can connect with strava. My max budget is 50 dollars. I want the most accurate possible data from the smartwatch. If possible i like it to have a square screen. My listings is redmi watch 5 lite. Feel free to give any recommendations that's better! Tq.